Qantas is set to boost air capacity to Canberra and Tasmania, as the airline revealed more changes to its domestic network.
Qantas Domestic chief executive Lyell Strambi said the airline would add up to 1076 seats per week to the nation’s capital from October 29 to “reaffirm” the carrier’s presence in the Canberra market.
It will add five extra services between Adelaide and Canberra to be operated by QantasLink Q400 aircraft, taking the tally of weekly services to 37.
It will also adjust its Melbourne-Canberra schedule with one return service being upgraded from a Q300 to a Q400 aircraft adding 336 seats per week to the route.
“The Qantas Group offers the most services to the Canberra market with over 500 flights per week to and from Canberra,” Strambi said. “We are pleased to offer even more capacity and frequency, providing convenient connections to destinations across the Qantas network.”
In addition, the airline will add more than 1700 seats per week on services between Melbourne and Tasmania from the same date, with a new daily Q400 flight to join the current twice daily Boeing 737 services to Hobart.
Launceston services will also be increased by an additional 694 seats per week as weekly return services rise from 17 to 28 per week.
Both weekly return services to Devonport will be upgraded from a Q300 aircraft to a Q400.
Tasmania’s premier Lara Giddings said the increases were “fantastic news” for local tourism.
“Today’s announcement from Qantas represents a significant investment in its Tasmanian services, and also reflects the growing confidence airlines have in Tasmania as a destination,” she said.
The group now operates more than 170 return services per week to ports across Tasmania. In May, Jetstar announced it would add 10,000 seats per week to Tasmania.
